The most common options coming to my mind are: 1. **Securing from anchors and building e.g. one rope-party with 2 and one with 3 members** * This is slow but very safe. You do it in steep and/or difficult terrain. 2. **Moving continuously being roped together while the first uses gear** * Using e.g. a tibloc or you can use rocks to let the rope move behind them (with respect to the side so in case of somebody falling, the rope will cause friction and the weight of different rope partners slowing down the fall - this is more likely done on ridges and not on a face like in the picture) * Being comfortable and without big technical difficulties (in respect to the skills of each person in the party) this earns a lot of speed. This is often done in steep ice or on easier to medium difficult rock climbs (common e.g. on UIAA III or IV climbs) 3. **Moving without protection being roped together** * Is typically done on glacier hikes where the main risk is falling into a crevasse. * If there is no risk of crevasses, this can only make sense if you walk e.g. on a snow ridge where you have no possibility to use protection: In case one falls, the roped-in friend has to react very fast and jump on the other side of the ridge. This is very difficult and therefore needs experience. I was told this should only be done by mountain guides going behind the client. 4. **Moving without protection not being roped together** * No backups. You have to feel absolutely comfortable with the terrain you are moving in. --- For me it looks very unlikely to have hidden crevasses in the terrain seen in the picture. So for option (3) it is much more likely that the roping together introduces a much higher risk here than going without rope. Especially if you tie in 5 people (!) it is not very likely that the members will hold the party if somebody falls. It will be more like a chain reaction with very fatal consequences, not only for the one who falls, but for the whole party. I once was guided in South America on rocky terrain in a five-member party without using protection. For me this is similarly a no-go but the guide said it's OK and he does it all the time. For me this is not the way to move in the mountains, but opinions differ. I say you use one of the options (1), (2) or (4) depending on how comfortable you feel in respect to the experience and skill level of all (!) members of the party. If you can't find a conclusion the way to react is: don't ascend further - return to a route which is safer for your group. For me it seems that the wall is not that steep so that option (1) is too slow. Especially if you only have 1 rope for 5 people. So I would either search for spots to use mobile protection to place a camelot or nut. Or I would try to find rocks to guide the rope properly - descriped in (2). The only good alternative for me is that everybody feels safe and all are moving unroped (4).